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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23421643">what you're looking for has been here the whole time</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/indoorbird/pseuds/indoorbird'>indoorbird</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Everybody Lives, F/M, Happy Ending, Post-Canon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 09:35:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,218</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23421643</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/indoorbird/pseuds/indoorbird</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sansa informs Arya she is beautiful. Other people have already noticed.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Arya Stark/Gendry Waters</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>146</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>what you're looking for has been here the whole time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>            “Arya, I have been thinking of late, and I wanted to say how sorry I am for all the cruel names I used to call you,” Sansa said suddenly, with the exaggerated courtesy she always used when she felt vulnerable. They had been enjoying silence in Sansa’s solar until she declared this out of nowhere.</p><p>            Arya stiffened. She does not like to think of any of the bad parts of life before the war. In her fixed memory, her childhood was all smiles and snowballs.</p><p>            “We were children. It doesn’t matter,” Arya said. Because it didn’t matter. After everything after that happened, how could being called Arya Horseface matter?</p><p>            But even through her denial, the name stung.</p><p>            “It was still wrong, and I want you to know I know that now. I knew it then too, but I was being cruel,” Sansa said.</p><p>            “Sansa, I really don’t care about that anymore,” Arya insisted.</p><p>            “I imagine not, after everything,” Sansa said, “But will you at least say you accept my apology?”</p><p>            “Fine,” Arya said, “I accept it.” She knew her sister was sincere. Sansa had expressed apologies for greater wrongs, this must be the last task on her list.   </p><p>             Sansa smiled gratefully, “I suppose the names likely no longer sting anyway since you’ve grown into such a beauty.”</p><p>            Arya looked at her. She was teasing but she didn’t seem dishonest either, or at least not aiming to be.</p><p>            “You don’t have to make things up to make up for calling me names,” Arya said, “I think that’s laying it on a bit thick.”</p><p>            “I am not making it up!” Sansa said, laughing, “You should hear the things I hear men say about you. They call you things like the Winter Rose and Lyanna Reborn.”</p><p>            Arya had learned to mask her face at the House of Black and White, and yet she could not stop herself from blushing at a stupid comment from her sister, “You are teasing.”</p><p>            “If Jon was not so protective of you, you would be fighting off suitors,” Sansa said knowingly.</p><p>            The thought of wedding was so strange to her. The concept used to repulse her because she wanted to play with swords and go on adventures and a husband would undoubtedly stand in the way of that. Now she had seen enough for three lives and was known as a warrior through the Seven Kingdoms. Yet, for some reason, men still wanted to marry her?</p><p>            “I do not think I am meant to be any lord’s lady.”</p><p>            “I hear that is part of your appeal,” Sansa said, “It might be nice. If not to marry, then just to have a nighttime companion.”</p><p>            “Sansa!” Arya said, “I cannot believe my ears. What would our septa say?”</p><p>            Sansa rolled her eyes, “I am no blushing flower, Arya. The world is different now. The dead rose. A queen rules. I do not think anyone would be too shocked at a lady taking a consort.”</p><p>            Arya laughed at the idea, “I shall think on it.”</p><p>            She did, more than she would like to admit. Sansa was not lying. Arya noticed men looking at her when she rode into the yard, cheeks ruddy and hair windblown, with an admiration that had nothing to do with her skill on a horse. It felt like they were keeping a secret from her, and nothing frustrated her like not being in on a secret.</p><p>            One day, she was sparring with Lyanna Mormont. Arya had a retinue of ladies quite unlike Sansa’s- young girls who had seen violence and decided they wanted to meet it with their own swords. It was a distinct joy to be the master in the practice yard she’d always wanted to learn in. Lyanna had been her first student, though she came to Arya knowing more than most girls.</p><p>            Arya was going over some water dancing moves with Lyanna that day. Gendry had fashioned them blunted bravos swords to practice on, but today, Arya felt a little restless. She told herself Lyanna was skilled enough she could not hurt her with the live steel.</p><p>            That thought was correct. Lyanna did not hurt her, only her pride. When she swung her sword, the sharp tip sliced through Arya’s tunic only, leaving her exposed from navel to neck.</p><p>            Lyanna immediately backed away and apologized, giggling a little.</p><p>            Normally, Arya would laugh with her, but Sansa’s words had left her more sensitive than usual. She was suddenly aware of every squire, lordling, and stableboy in the yard. Her face turned bright red.</p><p>            “I better not catch anyone looking!” she snapped, darting her head left and right. Every pair of eyes, even those not looking at her in the first place, averted towards the dirt.</p><p>            Arya used her hands to keep her ripped tunic in place and ran away to her chambers. On the way, she almost ran headfirst into Gendry.</p><p>            “What are you doing?” she snapped.</p><p>            “I was coming to see you practice,” he said, confused. He looked down at her hands and smiled wickedly, “Playing around with live steel?”</p><p>            “Shut up and get out of my way!”</p><p>            “Wait,” he said. He unclasped his black cloak and handed it to her. She wrapped the large piece of fabric around her. It covered her twice over.</p><p>            “Thank you,” she said.</p><p>            “Of course,” he said, “Since when did you become so modest?”</p><p>            “I-I’m not. I only-,” She didn’t want to explain her entire conversation with Sansa, “Shut up.” She huffed and walked past him, trying not to trip over his cloak.</p><p>            Sansa came into her chambers some time later to find her sulking with Nymeria, in a new tunic but still wearing Gendry’s cloak.</p><p>            “I hemmed your gown. It should be short enough for your preference now. Do not be cross with me, but I also added some embroidery to the bodice.”</p><p>            “Thank you,” Arya said sullenly.</p><p>            “If you truly hate it, I might be able to quickly hem something else. It is really just a bit of stitching,” Sansa said.</p><p>            “The embroidery is fine.”</p><p>            “Why are you sulking then?”</p><p>            “I had an embarrassing moment in the training yard today,” Arya said, playing with Nymeria’s fur.</p><p>            “Oh, yes, I did hear about that,” Sansa said. Arya looked up to see Sansa was barely holding in a laugh.</p><p>            She huffed, “If it was not for your stupid men making stupid comments, I wouldn’t even care.”</p><p>            Sansa laughed, “I am so sorry, but we beautiful women must bear our burdens.”</p><p>            She buried her face in Nymeria’s fur and groaned until her wolf moved away, over to Sansa who pet her behind the ears.</p><p>            “Traitor,” Arya said.</p><p>            “I am afraid you might have to endure more attention at the feast tonight,” Sansa said, “There will be many young men who dream of bringing a Stark wife home.”</p><p>            “How do you keep them off?” she asked. Sansa was called one of the most beautiful women in the Seven Kingdoms. She had remained unmarried, but surely she had plenty of prospective suitors.</p><p>            “Be courteous but do not give them anything to inspire hope,” Sansa said, “This only applies to men you are uninterested in, of course.”</p><p>            “I’m not taking a paramour,” she said, rolling her eyes.</p><p>            “Not even Gendry? That is his cloak, correct?”</p><p>            Arya sputtered, “Of course not! I mean, yes, it is his cloak, but I would never! Gendry would never, he is Jon’s friend, I could not.” She was thinking of that night with the Brotherhood without Banners and those whores, how Gendry had far more interest in them than her.</p><p>            Sansa was still smiling, “You were so happy to see him when he appeared with Jon.”</p><p>            “He’s my friend.”</p><p>            “The best loves start with friendship, I hear.”</p><p>            Arya rolled her eyes, “What song is that from?”</p><p>            “Perhaps the one they’ll write about you.”</p><p>            “I think you enjoy tormenting me.”</p><p>            “Being so busy as Lady of Winterfell, I have needed a way to find my pleasure, yes. I also like to tease Bran about Meera and Jon about Val.”</p><p>            Arya gasped, “Val? The wildling? Jon would never. He’s too serious.”</p><p>            Sansa smiled, “Not around her. I did quite a bit of observation during my time at the Wall. That pair would not make our bannermen love us, especially when so many of them have only daughters left to them. But the winter was so cruel. I would like to think it made even bannermen more forgiving.”</p><p>            “And what about you, Sansa? Do you have anyone I can tease you about?” Arya said.</p><p>            Sansa sighed, “It might be some time before I am ready for that. Until then, I will have to do with watching my dear siblings fall in love.”</p><p>            The wistful look in her sister’s eyes was perhaps what made Arya accept her little game. She let Sansa tell her about possible suitors, their lands, and what she has heard about them. Arya had not the slightest idea how Sansa remembered so much information. Arya barely kept the houses and names straight in her head, let alone facts about their temperament, relationships, skill in battle, and so much more. Arya listened to her point out young men and describe them, more interested in what her sister had to say than the men themselves.</p><p>            “The young lord Whitehill is quite handsome though I hear is very pious and often has to be begged not to become a septon. One of the few Northern houses to keep the Seven though so you could talk about that. Gawen Glover is a year younger than you and as of now is heir apparent to both House Glover and House Locke which is something to consider. Both his first and second sons will likely hold lordships or at least that is what I have advised. Lonnel of House Magnar is very friendly with Rickon and quite fearsome in the field. I imagine that appeals to you. Off to the right is Artos Flint who I think is one of the handsomest men here. We share a great grandmother for whom you are named.”</p><p>            “This is a lot to remember,” Arya said, quite overwhelmed.</p><p>            “Is there anyone who catches your eye?”</p><p>            Truthfully, there was not, but she wanted to indulge Sansa, “I’ve seen Lonnel in the yard. He wields an axe.”</p><p>            “Well, he looks like he would wield it well,” Sansa said, and they laughed.</p><p>            “What are you two talking about?” Jon said, leaning over from Sansa’s left side. He had been sitting for most of the feast quietly. He somehow managed to make his bored face look like kingly stoicism. Perhaps Arya would have to test Sansa’s word and invite Val to the next feast to see if his demeanor would change then.</p><p>            “Sansa is telling me about all the men she thinks are in love with me,” Arya said. As uncomfortable as she still was with the idea, she spoke confidently to see the look on Jon’s face.</p><p>            It was hard to make a man who conquered death squirm like her brother was now, “I-I think you are too young to have men be in love with you,” he said, trying to use his kingly voice on her.  </p><p>            “Jon, I have fought in battles, survived two wars, and been to Braavos and back. I think I am old enough to be the object of love for some lordlings.”</p><p>            “Well, if you’re not too young for that then I certainly am,” he said.</p><p>            When a dance started up, Sansa dragged her down from the dais to join the fray. Arya found herself across from Gawen Glover. All Sansa had said was he was of an age with her, not that he looked more of an age with Rickon.</p><p>            “Lady Arya, it is an honor,” he said, quickly bowing. His voice was as high as a flute.</p><p>            “Lord Glover,” she said, smiling through her teeth. She remembered Sansa’s advice. Be courteous and deflect.</p><p>            He spoke to her over the loud music and the conversations of the other partners Sansa was with a man Arya did not recognize. It was a lively dance in the Northern style. Arya was not half the dancer Sansa was, but she was light on her feet while Gawen Glover seemed to be a bit clumsy. For his sake, Arya hoped it was because he was going through a growth spurt.</p><p>            “You are a great beauty, my lady, if I may be so bold,” he said, “All say you look like your Aunt Lyanna.”</p><p>            “Yes, well, so does Jon,” she said, “I think he is just as pretty as I am.”</p><p>            Gawen sputtered. She hoped Sansa didn’t hear that. She would say Arya was being rude and also to stop calling their king pretty to his bannermen.</p><p>            “But you are good to say so,” Arya said. Gawen seemed to recover a little.</p><p>            “I have seen you in the practice yards, my lady,” he said, “And all have heard of your brave deeds in battle.”</p><p>            That was kind, but it only reminded her of how much older she felt than this green boy, “Do you train with a sword?”</p><p>            “I have some skill with a bow. My training with the sword was unfortunately interrupted by the Ironborn taking our castle during the war. Giving your hostage a sword is usually not encouraged.”</p><p>            She snorted. Gawen could be funny at the least.</p><p>            “Yes, that was true in my experience as well. It took me a long time to be reunited with my blade,” she said. The dance put her closer with Gawen, with his hand on her waist and face right next to her shoulder.</p><p>            “Needle,” he said, “I’ve heard the stories.”</p><p>            Stories? This was getting out of hand, “Yes, well, very little of all that is what happened.”</p><p>            “Of course,” he said, “But to live through all you did, if you don’t mind my saying so, my lady, it took great courage.”</p><p>            “You are very kind to say so,” Arya said, meaning it this time. If only Gawen was a little taller.</p><p>             The dance ended and she did not ask for another. She almost offered him sword lessons but thought that might embarrass him.</p><p>            Sansa came over with the young man she had been dancing with.</p><p>            “Arya, this is Lord Larence of House Hornwood,” Sansa said, looking at her meaningfully.</p><p>            Lord Larence did look more suited to Arya’s tastes. He was tall and seemed like he knew his way around a sword. He at least been near one, judging from the thin pink scar on his cheekbone.</p><p>            “It is nice to meet you, Larence,” Arya said.</p><p>            “I have heard many wonderful things about you from your sister,” he said, taking her hand to plant a kiss on. Her face went hot.</p><p>            Arya laughed, “I cannot believe that.” Sansa and Larence shared a smile.</p><p>            “She said you would say that,” he said, “Though I cannot think of a single bad thing one could think to say about you.”</p><p>            The flattery was somewhat alike from what Gawen had offered but felt completely different from a man grown, and a handsome one at that. Arya had noticed men to be comely before, but when one was right in front of her speaking so sweetly, it brought out something new.</p><p>            “I will leave you two to get acquainted,” Sansa said, taking her leave. Most likely on her cue, another song started. Arya knew the dance to this one called for close quarters between partners.</p><p>            “I am very impressed with your knowledge of water dancing,” Larence said, “I have read a lot on the Braavosi. When I was a boy, I tried to teach myself the fighting style, but it is not something you can learn from reading.”</p><p>            “No, it is not,” she said, thinking of Syrio Forel, “My master had me catch every cat in the Red Keep for a lesson.”</p><p>            He laughed, a deep and full sound, “I would like to have seen that.”</p><p>            “I was covered in scratches,” she said, “Once I completely bowled over a prince to get to one.” She had almost forgotten about that and felt a little bad for so carelessly mentioning the dead. She hated the Lannisters, but now that boy was dead, and she was grown.</p><p>            She blinked to erase the thought. Thinking of the dead got her stuck in her head</p><p>            “Perhaps you could give me some instruction. Is catching cats part of your teaching method as well?” he said, bringing her back to the present.</p><p>            She smirked. The idea of this man running after the kittens of Winterfell was so funny, she was tempted to answer yes.</p><p>            “I shall think about it, though you will be junior to Lady Lyanna.”</p><p>            “Aren’t we all?”</p><p>            Another good answer, “Why have I never met you before? Even during the war, I don’t remember you with the other bannermen’s sons.”</p><p>            His smile faltered just so slightly, “I was not seen as equal to the other bannermen then. I am my father’s natural son. His trueborn heir died guarding King Robb. He was an honorable man and a good brother.”</p><p>            “I am very sorry,” she said. She was so stupid. Half of the heirs in the North had only become so because of lost kin. Why couldn’t she be like Sansa, always knowing everything and never misspeaking?</p><p>            “It is a long time past now,” he said quickly. He didn’t want to be grim around her, but she understood death and grief better than flattery and flirtation.</p><p>            “It never feels like a long time ago though, does it?” she said. He looked at her, and an understanding passed between them.</p><p>            “No, it doesn’t,” he said. She decided she liked Larence. He reminded her of Jon, being a natural son raised to lord. But he was certainly more personable than Jon, reminding her a little of herself, or how she once was.</p><p>The dance was coming to an end, and the final steps put their arms around each other’s waists, faces inches apart.</p><p>            “I think I would like to see more of you,” she said, emboldened by the sudden closeness, “to make up for past absence, of course.”</p><p>            He smiled broadly, not trying to play coy at all, “It would be an honor.”</p><p>            The music ended. She was just about to ask him for another dance when a certain black-haired blacksmith appeared at her side.</p><p>            “I need to talk to you,” Gendry said.</p><p>            “Is something wrong?” she asked, confused. Gendry was not really a casual conversationalist.</p><p>            “No, I only- I mean, yes, yes, there is something. An urgent matter,” he said. He took her hand and pulled her away from Larence Snow, leading her outside the hall and into the brisk night.</p><p>            “Gendry, what is it?” she said.</p><p>            “Are you going to marry him?” he asked.</p><p>            “Who? Larence?”</p><p>            “Larence?” he said, raising his voice to imitate hers, “Yes. Or Gawen or any of them. Is Jon or Sansa making you marry them? Because everyone in there is talking so certainly about it that it sounds like you’ve already started sewing your maiden cloak.”</p><p>            “I just met them!”</p><p>            “Isn’t that what ladies do? Marry lords they barely know?” he said, and she felt like she was nine years old again and he’s laughing at her at Acorn Hall.</p><p>            “I never do something I don’t want to do!” she said with heat, “Don’t you know me?”</p><p>            “It’s- you’re just different here, now, since the war ended,” he said, “You wear gowns and gossip with Sansa and dance.”</p><p>            “I like to wear gowns sometimes when it’s my choice, and yes, I talk to Sansa as she is my sister, and dancing is nice. Yes, I act differently at home with my family at eight and ten than I did at Harrenhal when I was nine and scared for my life,” Arya said, “You act differently too, you know.”</p><p>            Gendry took offense, “How?”</p><p>            “You tell jokes with Jon and know courtesies and wield a war hammer,” she said, but she felt like she was grasping at air. She had changed more, but there was nothing wrong with that. She’d had to change more. She was pretending to be an orphan boy when she first met Gendry, and she’d had to be a dozen other people before she got to be Arya Stark again.</p><p>            Gendry was as frustrated as she was, “Are you getting married or not?”</p><p>            “No!” she said, “Sansa just introduced me to those men. It was more for her than them.”</p><p>            “But she’s not making you marry them?”</p><p>            “No, she would never do that,” Arya said.</p><p>            “And you do not like them?”</p><p>            “I did not say that.”</p><p>            “So they are your suitors!”</p><p>            “They want to be! I can talk to men, Gendry. I’m not breaking any laws! If I like them, that’s my business.”</p><p>            He was fuming, but he knew she had him, “I just hope you’d tell me before your wedding day.”</p><p>            “Do you really think I wouldn’t?” she said. He had to know that idea was ridiculous. After all they had been through, she thought it was understood they both had stake in each other’s lives, “Wouldn’t you tell me?”</p><p>            “Yes.”</p><p>            “So I’d tell you. And I’m not marrying anyone tomorrow since you seem to care so much.”</p><p>            He nodded and turned toward the tower where he slept.</p><p>            “Leaving the feast so soon?” she called.</p><p>            “I’m tired,” he said, “Good night.”</p><p>            “Good night,” she said. She wanted to retire too, but it would be remiss for her to disappear so early so she returned to the dim of the feast.</p><p>            Jon and Gendry left Winterfell soon after that to see to further reparations of Deepwood Motte. Jon was very fond of Gendry’s practical nature and often looked to him for counsel on any sort of thing. It made sense for them to get on, as she and Jon were so similar and usually liked the same people. But it was weird to have to share Gendry, especially with another member of her family. After the feast where he yelled at her though, she thought Jon could keep him.</p><p>            While they were gone, Larence remained at Winterfell. They rode in the wolfswood together, practiced archery side by side, and he eagerly learned some of the water dancers’ technique. She thought because he was raised a bastard, he was more willing to listen to her than other lords. She took him on walks around Winterfell and they talked about the Free Cities, the histories he read in his books, and their time at war. He’d been a prisoner too, of the Greyjoy’s. She told him a little of Harrenhal, more than she told most people.</p><p>            When they were talking in one of the still ruined towers, he asked if he could kiss her, and she agreed. She had not kissed many men, and she supposed the kiss was as good as any. He was very shy about it which she rationed was to be expected. He was still a stranger to her in many ways, and she to him in a thousand ways more. She wasn’t sure how much time she was willing to invest in him to change that.</p><p>            When Gendry rode back, she was surprised at how glad she was to see him, how much she’d missed the company of someone who knew her well and stayed with her by choice, not out of desire or blood or obligation.</p><p>            She didn’t know when it happened, but at some point, an unspoken agreement had been made to stay with, to guard, to protect each other. Perhaps it was in Harrenhal or before that, that first day in King’s Landing after the worst moment of her life when he defended her. It was broken for a bit, but they’d ended up together again, quite improbably.</p><p>            The first time she saw him in years, when he rode in with Jon, it had seemed like a random twist of fate. After she heard his story, she could think of a hundred reasons why he had come north. He had met Ser Davos and felt loyal to his rescuer, he heard there was a fight here and was compelled by honor, he wanted to emulate his father and find glory in war, he met Jon and thought he was worth following.</p><p>            But then he saw her and said he came because <em>her </em>brother was king, that first he thought she was dead and wanted to fight for <em>her </em>home, then he learned she was alive and wanted to see the last person who had been his friend. For a bit, there were stirrings of more than that, but those were passions of war, and after all their enemies were defeated, she was just so <em>tired</em>. More than that, she had to learn who Arya Stark was without the fight that built her, what happened when the survivor had survived everything and was now just asked to live.</p><p>            And Gendry stayed. She did not question why, but he had family and even claims he could have chased in the south, yet he stayed in her home. Of course, he was made welcome by Jon, but it was still odd that a young man and a war hero who chose to turn down all other roads and stay in this broken castle that was not his. </p><p>            When he rode in yet again, she felt completely stupid for not seeing that she was the reason he stayed. How long had he loved her? As long as she had loved him?</p><p>            She went to him as soon as he dismounted and pulled him towards the emptysmithy.</p><p>            “What is it? What’s so important we have to talk right away. I would really like a bath-“</p><p>            “We should wed,” Arya said, “Why are we not wed already?”</p><p>            It was always good to catch him by surprise, “What?”</p><p>            “Marry me, idiot.”</p><p>            “What about your suitors?”</p><p>            “They’ll never know me the way you do. Besides, if they did know, they might not accept it. But you do. And I know you do. And I love you. I haven’t said it aloud, I haven’t even thought it, but it’s always been there. So why look anywhere else?”</p><p>            “I love you,” he said, “I want you. All of you.”</p><p>            “So?” she said, “I’ll meet you in the godswood at dusk.”</p><p>            “So soon?” he said, smiling, “You think you won’t change your mind?”</p><p>            She smiled with a rare tenderness, “I’m sure of it,” and then she reached up to kiss him. They had kissed before, after the heat of battle or in late nights in the kitchen after splitting a cask of wine, but those kisses were like asking questions. This was a declaration.</p><p>            Arya went to tell Sansa and ask for a white dress to borrow and a cloak, leaving Gendry with the task of talking to Jon.</p><p>            “You cannot be serious,” Sansa said.</p><p>            “You were the one encouraging this,” Arya said.</p><p>            “You cannot run off and marry Gendry in the godswood tonight. You’re a Princess of Winter. There is a certain decorum to be followed. Our bannermen will not like this one bit. Gendry is not even of the North. Then there is the matter that neither Jon nor I have wed yet.”</p><p>            “Sansa, I will do it anyway, I do not care about the bannermen,” she said.</p><p>            “I see that, Arya, but could you at the least give me some time to get them used to the idea?”</p><p>            “I want to do it tonight,” she said, “I will do it tonight.”</p><p>            “If you do it tonight, Larence is still on the grounds at Winterfell. Do you want to give him a warning?”</p><p>            Arya bit her lip. He had not proposed to her or anything of the like but when lords and ladies spent as much time together as they had, she knew marriage was not absent from the mind, “That would be the kind thing to do, wouldn’t it?”</p><p>            “Yes,” Sansa said, “It would be.”</p><p>             “Perhaps…,” Sansa continued after a pause, “You could do a small ceremony in secret tonight then one for the bannermen in a few moons time.”</p><p>            Arya smiled, “Do you mean it?”</p><p>            “We should ask Jon what he thinks, though I doubt he’ll deny you.”</p><p>            “Gendry is with him now,” Arya said. In a moment of emotion, she ran forth to embrace her sister, “Thank you, Sansa.”</p><p>            “We must go to Jon quickly if I am going to prepare a cloak on such short notice,” she said.</p><hr/><p>            Gendry was a hard man to scare. After Harrenhal and the Riverlands and the Great War passed by, he liked to think he had seen all that could possibly cause him fear. But he was scared now.</p><p>            Perhaps it would be easier if Jon was just Arya’s brother, but he was also Gendry’s friend, a friend he really did not want to lose. He felt Jon was someone he truly saw eye to eye with. Then there was also the tickle to lowly Gendry of Fleabottom’s vanity that he was the respected counsellor to a King of Winter. He wasn’t a proud man, but he was proud of his position at Winterfell and it went against every bone in his body to threaten that.</p><p>            Being friend to king was quite a high leap for a bastard but wedding a Princess of the North was quite another. Learning Arya was a lady even when they were also on the run had spooked him. He tried to tell himself now it was Arya, someone he knew better than anyone, who cared about her title less than anyone. Yet he felt like any moment one of the City Watch who used to ride past him on the street were going to show up to cut his hand off for pretending he was good enough to marry a highborn lady.</p><p>            He had wanted to marry her for quite a while, but he never would have asked, never would have felt it was his place. But Arya had asked him, and he did not want to disappoint her by being too afraid to talk to her brother.</p><p>            He knocked on the solar door.  </p><p>            “Enter,” Jon called. Gendry stepped in. He was meeting with his Master of Horse.</p><p>            “Gendry,” he greeted familiarly, seated on the oak table piled high with letters and maps. He looked a little confused that Gendry wanted to see him so soon after they got back, “What is it?”</p><p>            “I was hoping we could have a word in private,” Gendry said. He quickly added on a “Your Grace” though he and Jon usually discarded formalities when it was just them. He towered over Jon, as he did most men, but now he felt as small as a mouse.</p><p>            “Of course,” Jon said, easily, “Ser, may we have the room?”</p><p>            “Certainly, Your Grace,” the man said, rolling up his parchment.</p><p>            “Thank you,” Jon said, “We’ll continue this later on.” The man finally left with his scrolls.</p><p>            “I’m giving Bran a new saddle for his nameday,” Jon said, smiling with satisfaction. He looked him over, “You look nervous. What is it you wanted to speak on?” His tone grew more serious then, and Gendry almost forgot the whole venture. But he steeled himself.</p><p>            “I was just talking with Arya,” Gendry said, “And we care about each other a lot. And she asked me to marry her. So I came to ask for your…approval.” He did not know if Arya would like that word, but he did not want to seem to disrespect Jon’s authority. That only worked for her.</p><p>            “Oh?” Jon said.</p><p>            “Yes, just now,” Gendry said, “She wants to wed tonight in the godswood.”</p><p>            “<em>Tonight?</em>” Jon said, a rare exclamation coming from him, “No, I think Arya is too young to wed this very night.” He was using his kingly voice and indicating this was to be the end of the conversation. But Gendry persisted.</p><p>            “To be fair, she asked me,” Gendry said, “And she does not do anything she does not want to do.”</p><p>            “Yes, that is the problem,” Jon snapped. He moved to sit behind the great wooden desk. Sitting down, he was somehow more imposing. Quietly, Jon added to himself, “Everyone will say she is just like my mother in this too. Except this time she wants to marry the Baratheon.”</p><p>            “I love her,” Gendry said, bolder than he knew he could be, “I always have. We have saved each other’s skin more times than I can count. I’ll always protect her, even though she says she doesn’t need anyone to. I’ll never hold her back unless I think she’s doing something really stupid. If she wants to do it anyway, I’ll go with her.”</p><p>            “I don’t doubt any of that,” Jon said, “I just don’t know if I’m ready to see her wed. Or how the bannermen will feel about it. I should talk to Sansa.”</p><p>            Just then, Sansa and Arya came in.</p><p>            “Sansa,” Jon said, “I was just going to speak with you.”</p><p>            “Did you tell him?” Arya asked Gendry.</p><p>            “Yes,” Jon answered, “Tonight? Really?”</p><p>            “Yes,” Arya said, lifting her chin defiantly, “I’ve made up my mind.”</p><p>            “I proposed a compromise,” Sansa said, “They can wed tonight in secret and then in public for the bannermen in a few moons’ time.” She was talking as if Arya and Gendry weren’t even there. Sometimes Arya felt like Jon and Sansa had decided to parent their younger siblings in the absence of Ned and Catelyn. It had started with Rickon, which made sense as he was still a boy, but Arya was only a few years their junior and had seen just as much to mature her as they had.</p><p>            “Can we keep it a secret?” Jon said only to Sansa.</p><p>            “Yes, I think so,” Sansa said, “We can do it at night. As long as these two can be discreet, I think it is possible.”</p><p>            “What about the bannermen?”</p><p>            “That is my biggest concern as well,” Sansa said, “We’ll say they’re so in love no one could possibly stand between them, just like a song. I could entertain a few suitors. Perhaps I’ll even like one of them.”</p><p>            Here is where Arya felt she had to interject. She couldn’t let her sister resign herself to an unhappy fate so Arya could be free to marry who she loved, “Sansa, you do not have to do that for me.”</p><p>            Sansa smiled, “I too do not do anything I do not want to do. I think it’s time for me. That Larence seems cute, would you be terribly jealous?”</p><p>            “Not a bit,” Arya said, laughing.</p><p>            “There’s always Rickon for the bannermen to hold out hope for,” Sansa said, smiling.</p><p>            “So is this actually happening?” Jon said, “The two of you?”</p><p>            “Yes,” Arya said confidently, grabbing Gendry’s hand. He nodded.</p><p>            “I suppose we should have seen it coming,” he said, turning to Sansa.</p><p>            “I did,” she replied.</p><p>            “Of course,” Jon said, “I suppose I should have seen it coming.”</p><p>            It all happened quite quickly. Sansa stole Arya away to prepare, lending her a light gray dress. For a maiden cloak, they made do with an ivory cloak that had a wolf brooch securing it. After the castle was asleep, Sansa and Gendry snuck out to the godswood with Jon and Arya to follow.</p><p>            “I am glad it’s you,” Sansa said to Gendry when they were almost there, “You know her, and you shall not try to change her. It is an impossible task. Believe me, I tried.”</p><p>            “I only hope I am worthy of her, my lady,” Gendry said.</p><p>            “I know men well enough to know a rare one appreciates Arya as she deserves,” Sansa said, “Welcome to the family, Gendry.”</p><p>            From further behind, Jon said to Arya, “I remember when you were little and said you would never marry anyone. Or wear a gown.”</p><p>            “I think the difference is whether I have a choice or not, for both,” Arya said, “Shouldn’t you be telling me how beautiful I look or something like that?”</p><p>            “You look beautiful,” he said, “Though it is rather dark out…”</p><p>            She pushed at his shoulder and laughed freely. She was a bit giddy at what she was about to do from both excitement and nerves.</p><p>            “I do not know what it means to be a wife, besides what my septa told me,” she said, “And I’m not following any of that.”</p><p>            “I think you shall have to decide what it should mean for yourself,” he said, “I wish I had more advice to give you. Be true? Be kind? That sounds right.”</p><p>            “I can do that,” she said, “Promise me you’ll still call me little sister when I’m woman wed?”</p><p>            “I promise,” he said.</p><p>            Gendry’s grin could not be wider than when he caught sight of Arya, snow falling around her. For the first time, she truly believed she was something beautiful. They knelt in the snow and said the words that made them husband and wife. Sansa cried, as she knew she would. Jon was crying too, even though he swore he wasn’t.</p><p>            The bannermen also wept when they learned of the happy couple’s betrothal a couple of moons later, but they got over it eventually.</p>
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